US judge temporarily blocks Trump's freeze on federal aid

A US judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s plan to pause the disbursements of federal grants and loans minutes before it was set to go into effect late Tuesday.

What to know about Trump's plan to freeze federal aid

The Trump administration late Monday directed federal agencies to pause federal grants and loans in the US on Tuesday evening, in a sweeping move that threatens to disrupt education, healthcare, housing assistance, disaster relief and other programs that rely on the flow of federal money.

The acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees the US federal budget, said the freeze was "temporary," and necessary to ensure that all funding complies with executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.

Federal funding freeze sends shockwaves through Washington

In a memo sent to government agencies on Monday afternoon, the White House said that public servants had "a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through presidential priorities."

The memo said this included "ending 'wokeness' and the weaponization of government," among other objectives.

Some orders were intended to wind back environmental protections and efforts for diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI).

White House defends federal funding freeze

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that the freeze is not a "blanket" stop on spending, and is intended to ensure that "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken."

She added that welfare programs and food aid would not be affected. 

Medicaid payment disruptions reported 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said 20 states, including New York, had been frozen out of Medicaid systems that provide health care to millions of low-income Americans. 

White House press secretary Leavitt later posted on social media to clarify payments would still be processed.

"We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent," she said. "We expect the portal will be back online shortly."

More than 70 million people receive health coverage through Medicaid, which is jointly paid by states and the US federal government.

States and nonprofits launch legal action

The New York attorney general said she and a group of state attorneys-general planned to sue over the move.

A group of nonprofits filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, saying that the federal budget office's meme was "made public only through journalists' reporting, with barely twenty-four hours' notice."

The plaintiffs include the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, small business group Main Street Alliance and SAGE, a New York group providing assistance to the LGBTQ community.

They slammed the order as being "devoid of any legal basis or the barest rationale," adding that a funding freeze would have a "devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients."

Democrats accuse Trump of 'rip off'

Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the Trump administration of "ripping off hardworking Americans."

"The Republican Rip Off will raise the cost of living for the working class, while hurting children, seniors, veterans, first responders, houses of worship and everyday Americans in need," the New York lawmaker said.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, also a Democrat, said Medicaid online portals were down in every state.

"This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed," he posted on social media.

Meanwhile, Maine independent Senator Angus King said the funding freeze was "a profound constitutional issue."

"What happened last night is he most direct assault on the authority of Congress. I believe, in the history of the United States," King said.

zc/wmr,rm (AP, Reuters, AFP)